The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

is the official symbol of the city of Haarlem. The sword and stars can be found as public decorations throughout the city.

Heraldic elements

Escutcheon

The coat of arms of Haarlem consists of a

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

with a

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

with golden handle under a white

Jerusalem cross The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold cross", or "cross-and-crosslets" and the "Crusader's cross") is a heraldic cross and Christian cross variant consisting of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each ...

and flanked by 4 white six-pointed stars. Above the shield is the

Imperial Crown of Austria The Imperial Crown of Austria () is a crown formerly in use by the monarchs of the Habsburg monarchy. The crown was originally made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen as the personal crown of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, and therefore is also k ...

under barren branches holding two Damiate bells, all held up by two golden

lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

standing on the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

of Haarlem. Several

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

elements have their basis in the

history of Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the more populated metropolit ...

. The motto of Haarlem is ''Vicit vim virtus'' (Latin for virtue conquered violence). The barren branches refer to the burned trees in the

Haarlemmerhout The Haarlemmerhout is the oldest public park of the Netherlands. It lies on the south side of Haarlem, on the same old sandy sea wall that is shared by the public park Haagse Bos in The Hague and the Alkmaarderhout in Alkmaar. History On a ma ...

, which were burned again and again during various sieges, most notably during the siege by the army of

Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut Jacqueline (; ; ; 15 July 1401 – 8 October 1436), of the House of Wittelsbach, was a noblewoman who ruled the counties of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut in the Low Countries from 1417 to 1433. She was also Dauphine of France for a short time ...

in 1428. Haarlem had taken side with the Cods in the

Hook and Cod wars The Hook and Cod wars (; sometimes semi-anglicised as the wars of the Hoecks and the Cabbeljaws) comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over who should hold the title ...

, and thus against Jacoba of Bavaria. The bells refer to the

damiaatjes The Damiaatjes (English: Little Damiettas) refer to two bells in the St. Bavochurch of Haarlem that ring every night between nine and nine thirty, to signal the closing of the city's gates and commemorate the conquest of the Egyptian city Damie ...

. Two bells were given to the city of Haarlem's St. Bavochurch to commemorate the heroic cutting of the

harbour chain A boom or a chain (also boom defence, harbour chain, river chain, chain boom, boom chain or variants) is an obstacle strung across a navigable stretch of water to control or block navigation. They are sometimes mixed with pile barrages. In moder ...

during the

Siege of Damietta (1218) Battle of Damietta, Sack of Damietta or Siege of Damietta may refer to: *Sack of Damietta (853), a part of the Arab–Byzantine wars * Siege of Damietta (1169), a part of the Crusader invasions of Egypt *Siege of Damietta (1218–1219), a part of th ...

with a "saw ship", a legendary ship equipped with an iron saw fastened along the bow and front keel. This ship sawed through the harbour chain and allowed the fleet to successfully attack the city.

Wapenvermeerdering

According to local legend, the original shield of Haarlem contained simply the four stars on a red background. As a result of the heroic deeds in Damietta, the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

granted Haarlem the usage of a sword and the Patriarch of Jerusalem granted the use of a cross. This story is known as the "Wapenvermeerdering", or "Addition to the Arms".Deugd boven geweld, p. 100-101. In portrayals of this legend, the emperor is shown with a red beard, since he is supposed to be

Emperor Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

. As Haarlem historians love to point out, Emperor Barbarossa died in 1190 well before the siege of Damietta took place in 1218, so the story shown in the painting is just a Haarlem fantasy of greater knighthood and glory in the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

. During the Hook and Cod wars in the

County of Holland The County of Holland was a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire from its inception until 1433. From 1433 onward it was part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands and from 1581 onward the leading pro ...

in the 15th century,

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519. He was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed hi ...

supported the

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

in the cities (Cod) in their fight against the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

in the countryside (Hook). During these wars Haarlem, like the cities of Dordrecht, Leiden, Amsterdam, and The Hague, loaned large amounts of money to Maximilian I. The emperor granted Haarlem and the other cities the right to use his personal imperial

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

in their coat of arms, out of gratitude for these loans. In the coat of arms of Haarlem, the Imperial Crown is positioned on top of the escutcheon. File:Wandtapijt wapenvermeerdering haarlem.jpg, Tapestry ordered at the same time as the painting by De Grebber. This is still installed in the city hall above the mantel in the council chamber File:Capturing Damiate.jpg, Painting commissioned by the Haarlem council by

Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen (c. 1576 – 29 December 1633) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography Van Wieringen was born and died in Haarlem. He was the son of a Haarlem captain, and drew, painted and etched with his friends Hendrick ...

, 1625-1630. The ship breaks the

at Damietta, the foremost flag on the "Saw-ship" shows the barren branches of the Haarlem coat of arms. File:Damiate-tapestry-1629.JPG, The tapestry ordered at the same time as the painting by Van Wieringen. This is still installed in the city hall on the wall that was built for it (the

Lieven de Key Lieven de Key (1560 – 17 July 1627) was a Flemish renaissance architect who after working in his native Flanders moved to work in the Dutch Republic. He is mostly known today for his works in Haarlem. His style is described by Simon Schama as M ...

wing) File:Romeyn de Hooghe - Innemen van Damiaten 1188 en nieuw Stads wapenschild, 1688.jpg, Romeyn de Hooghe engraved this scene in 1688 for the Haarlem city map for 500th anniversary of the capture of Damiate. The "Saw-ship" is in the background and in the foreground the Haarlem knights are awarded the sword and cross attributes in Jerusalem.

References

* Deugd boven geweld, Een geschiedenis van Haarlem, 1245-1995, edited by Gineke van der Ree-Scholtens, 1995, {{Dutch coats of arms Culture in Haarlem History of Haarlem

Coats of arms with lions